Monster is a 95-minute drama about a violent juvenile from a cast of 4 (2F, 2M). It's in two acts (55 min, 40 min) with a 15 minute interval.

Tom (Andrew French) left a career in the City after he cracked and hit his lover Jodi (Sarah-Louise Young), to train as a teacher. He wants to be a black role-model for black problem-boys. Instead he gets Darryl (Mikey North), a ginger white one. Darryl's mother hanged herself when he was small. He lives with his aggressive grandmother Rita (Mary Jo Randle). Darryl, kicked out of class, is supervised by Tom and vents his full vocabulary of hate, insults and extreme threat on him. Jodi, pregnant and newly-married to Tom, resents Tom's distraction from her, and their domestic and potentially family future. Darryl's hate - for others or himself - explodes continually, increasing in intensity. Tom wrestles with his determination not to let Darryl down, and his love and responsibility for Jodi.

Monster is written in taut one-to-one confrontations between the characters. The language accomplishes the subtle feat of forcing the frightening plot along - saturated in menace - while sounding exactly true-to-life. The play contains around 15,000 words, and not one of them is spare or clunks. It's an astonishing achievement by writer Duncan Macmillan, who brings to the script an acute understanding of how people speak (and shout), the trigger points of moods, and the techniques of manipulation which characterise all human relationships.

Andrew French's Tom catches the vulnerability and determination of the committed teacher, evoking subtly how these are affected by previous and existing inner conflicts. Mikey North's performance of Darryl is - there's no other word for it - remarkable. There is no sense of acting in any of the show's performances. This is starkly observable in Mikey North's delivery of Darryl. It is as if this dangerous boy, his personality fried on the skillet of a disastrous family background and packed full of his own evil is physically present in the room. The sense of menace, pivoted on the edge of - literally, it emerges - a knife, is present each time the character is present.

Mary Jo Randle portrays Rita as a young grandmother with the same problems as her grandson. Her Rita resents authority and blames it - and everything else - for Darryl's defects, with no sense of personal responsibility. But there is no stereotypicality. Mary Jo Randle evokes Rita's fears and vulnerabilities, rounding out the character. Sarah-Louise Young delivers Jodi with the blending of distance, concern, love, intimacy, caution, fear and determination which make up this complex characterisation. Sarah-Louise Young takes the character - in her encounters with Tom and, in the terrifying climax of the play, another character - through a remarkable series of layers. The result is a startling bringing-to-life of one of Monster's key characters, her emotions, and her driving, passionate loyalty to her love and her family's lives.

Director Jacob Murray concentrates Monster at a micro level into pocket-scenes of how people in pairs work power on each other. His characters prise reactions out of their adversaries - and every character seems, at least to a degree - to be the adversary of every other - creating a tense feeling of unpredictability through to the last second of the play. At the macro level, Jacob Murray produces a rising level of stress and fear. His direction, in other words, integrates detail within a powerfully-conceived overall strategy, resulting in a remarkable harnessing of the talents of cast, writer and crew.

Design, by Louis Price, with props and sets supervised by Phil Costello and wardrobe by Lucy Woodcock, is exact to the play. The set is simple in form - a well-proportioned table and chairs, empty space - and effective in underscoring the structure of the play as a set of confrontations. Locating the action between two halves of the audience increases the sense of shocking intimacy. Lighting design by Richard Owen is carefully considered and very effective, creating an extra room off-stage in some scenes, and separate moods for each scene. Sound design by Claire Windsor sets the different atmospheres of each scene (and their links) precisely, and intensifies the emotions of the action. Dialect direction by Mark Langley gives sharp authenticity to the patterns and accents of speech, particularly important in such a speech-based production. First-class stage management is provided by Keith Broom (techical stage manager), Francis Lynch (stage manager), Tracey Fleet (deputy stage manager), Lynsey Fraser (assistant stage manager), Dawn Maxfield (student placement). Monster's brooding poster photograph is by Jonathan Oakes.

A play as good in all its elements - cast, script, director, design, lights, sound, backstage company - as this is rare. This delivery of Monster is unique. It is outstanding.

Cast Credits: (alpha order): Andrew French - Tom. Mikey North - Darryl. Mary Jo Randle - Rita. Sarah-Louise Young - Jodi.

Company Credits: Writer - Duncan Macmillan. Director - Jacob Murray. Designer - Louis Price. Lighting - Richard Owen. Sound - Claire Windsor. Dialects - Mark Langley. Technical Stage Manager - Keith Broom. Stage Manager - Francis Lynch. Deputy Stage Manager - Tracey Fleet. Assistant Stage Manager - Lynsey Fraser. Student Placement - Dawn Maxfield. Set & Props by Royal Exchange Theatre Company Props & Settings Department. Acting Head of Props & Settings - Phil Costello. Costumes by Royal Exchange Theatre Company Wardrobe Department. Wardrobe Supervisor - Lucy Woodcock. Publicity Photograph - Jonathan Oakes. Company - Royal Exchange Theatre Company. Producer - Richard Morgan. Royal Exchange Credits: Associate Artistic Directors - Sarah Frankcom, Jacob Murray. Artistic Directors - Gregory Hersov, Braham Murray.

END

John Park

reviewed Thursday 28 June 07 matinee / Royal Exchange Studio

Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2008